Vexed Vapors
by WastefulReverie
Summary: In light of his fame, Danny does commercials and his children really wish he didn't.


Danny didn't know at what point in his life he adjusted to international fame, but he took it in stride. It's not like he had much choice anyway, being a half-dead superhero that saved the world and all. The first few years after his exposure, he attended press conferences and graced the occasional fan convention (due to much persuasion on Tucker's part).

He was twenty-one when he appeared in his first commercial. He never really considered acting, but the agency approached him with a generous contract with a considerable amount of money. And let's be honest, working at FentonWorks was enough to pay the bills but if he was going to pay off his student loans, he needed as much cash as he could get.

His friends and family teased him about it. Endlessly. Especially that one time he was in a Super Bowl commercial (Talk about mortifying! The entire country saw that!), but he rolled his eyes and moved on. If it wasn't for those dumb commercials, he wouldn't have gotten his Engineering degree. Not to mention all those campus renovation fees he'd racked up from ghost fights.

"Tired of feeling like the living dead? I'm Danny Phantom, and I get it. Mornings can be difficult, that's why I start every day with a glass of SunnyD! Guaranteed to make every day feel more alive than ever!"

Years went by. Danny eventually got a real job at Axion Labs. It was a flexible enough position that he could duck out and fight ghosts at any time. As a result, he starred in fewer commercials. His fame waned a bit too; he was still the world's half-ghost hero, but nothing bad had happened in a while. The world was at peace and he was old news. _Thank Clockwork._ Fame was alright, but it was suffocating at times.

He and Sam settled down and had two kids: James and Lilith. They both gradually developed their own powers, much to Danny's relief. Neither of them had come out of the womb flying and didn't even learn to transform until they were both five, so that saved him a lot of stress. His worst fear had been superpowered babies… now _that _would've been a disaster.

When James was eight, they finally decided to try public school. Predictably, they pulled him out within the week and resumed homeschooling. Ghost powers and children simply didn't mix. Eventually, his kids would integrate into society, but not until they were much older. Not until their cores had fully developed.

Seven years later, Lilith was ready to enter the seventh grade. Unlike James, she had no previous experience in public school so she was understandably nervous. Her parents had assured her that she didn't _have_ to go, but Lilith was determined.

"I'm thirteen! My powers are mostly stable and I just want to hang out with _normal_ girls my age. Besides, Mom's a good teacher and all but… I'm almost ahead of her in math."

"We understand," he said, "but if anyone gives you a hard time or if you get nervous, don't feel obligated to stay there."

Her eyes widened. "What? You think people might… make fun of me because I'm a ghost?"

Danny glanced at Sam. _He_ certainly considered it, but that was because after all these years he was still a little insecure about his own ghostliness. Sam picked up on his uneasiness and answered for him.

"There's a chance that some kids will try to test you, bait you because you're different than them. Stay away from those kids; anyone who sees differences as a bad thing wasn't raised right. And just know that being a ghost doesn't define you, it doesn't define your Dad or your brother or your Aunt Elle."

Lilith nodded. "Alright. Thanks, Mom!"

Danny saw her off to school and watched her walk through the front gates of Raven Middle, the same school that he, James, and Sam had attended. Lilith would be the last in their family to walk those halls before joining her brother at Casper High. How had they gotten here? It seemed like only yesterday that Sam was trying to free the frogs.

Somehow, it'd been nearly twenty years since those days. His kids were growing up so fast… he couldn't wrap his mind around it. Tears welled at the edge of his vision and Danny didn't brush them away.

"Dad," James coughed. "Are you gonna just stare out the window or do I need to fly myself to school?"

Danny snapped out of his reverie. He couldn't believe he forgot he still had to drive his eldest to Casper High.

"Yeah." He blinked the tears out of his eyes, hoping that James didn't catch them. "School, yeah."

* * *

When he picked Lilith up from school, she was visibly upset. Her backpack hung heavy on her shoulders and her eyes were pink with tears. _Damn it, _he chastised himself. _I knew we should have waited._

"I hate you," she decided when she opened the car door.

He wasn't expecting that.

"I, um, alright? What did I do?"

His daughter had never said that to him before. She'd told Sam she hated her a few times, but Lilith… Lilith was a Daddy's girl. She always had been. They got along well, much better than Danny remembered getting along with either of his parents, and he loved it. This sudden change in attitude unnerved him.

"It's all your fault!" she threw her hands into the air dramatically. "_All_ of it!"

"Lilith," he said slowly. "What are you talking about?"

"_'__Vaping drains the life out of you, trust me I know, I'm half-dead,'" _she quipped. _"'__Know the real cost: save your brain, save your _life."

He gaped at her. That was the line from his latest commercial. He hadn't done one in a few years, but some anti-vaping company had made him an offer and he figured to accept it for old times' sake. He wasn't really that into the smoking-vaping debates, but from what they told him he could see semblance in the anti-vape argument.

"You're a freaking meme, Dad! A _meme_!"

"Oh," he said dumbly. "I am?"

"_Yes_. Yes you are! Everyone asked me if I'm half-ghost because I vaped too much! I can't _handle_ this."

"Did you… at least make friends?"

"Oh yeah," she said flippantly, "I have a bunch. Everyone fought over who got to sit with me at lunch."

His guilt dissolved. When he was teased about his parents in school, it was always malicious. At least the kids at her school were actually interested in befriending her… if not for all the commercial jokes.

"Why did you have to do it?" she asked. "Why did you have to do _that_ commercial?"

He laughed. Lilith was going to be just fine.

… at least until the other kids learned about her ghost sense.


End file.
